PhD Funding: ERC Dual Doctoral Award - Average - Transaction Costs and Risk Management during the First Globalization (Sixteenth-Eighteenth Centuries), Exeter & Pisa

Applications are invited for one ERC funded Dual Doctoral Award with the Department of History at the University of Exeter and the Dipartimento di Civiltà e Forme del Sapere (Department of Civilization and Forms of Knowledge), Università di Pisa (Italy).

This doctoral position will focus on researching the development and practice of Maritime Averages in Livorno between the Sixteenth and Eighteenth Centuries under the supervision of Professor Maria Fusaro (Exeter), Principal Investigator of the project, and Professor Andrea Addobbati (Pisa).

The project offers exciting opportunities for excellent students eager to continue his/her study whilst being actively embedded into an exciting interdisciplinary and transnational research project. The successful applicant will be dividing his/her time between the UK and Italy, taking advantage of the excellent training facilities available at the Universities of Exeter and Pisa. She/he will also be expected to present aspects of his/her research in workshops, seminars and conferences organised within the project over its lifetime.

This doctoral position will last for 42 months to allow for the appropriate technical and quantitative training to properly analyse this complex documentation and all its activities will be fully embedded into the project’s activities.

The overall aim of the project (ERC grant agreement number 724544) is to investigate the legal and economic development of General Averages comparatively across Europe. In total 4 doctoral positions are being advertised for different countries. This topic has been neglected by scholars, even though rich and substantial (serial) documentary evidence about it has survived for the early modern period. The project will be articulated along two principal axes: one principally concerned with economic analysis, which will analyse, and make available, data extracted from archives in Italy (Venice, Livorno, Genoa), the Low Countries and Spain; the other concentrating on the legal and political elements behind GA historical development.

The Tuscan documentation is particularly important due to the strong presence of international operators in the Livorno portofranco. The main focus of this doctoral project will be the Consoli del Mare, whose material is in the State Archive of Pisa, especially working on the subseries of Atti Civili. Other archival series where important material is available are the Notarial Section of the State Archive in Florence and the archive of the Governor of Livorno (Governatore e Auditore) in the Livorno State Archive.

Entry criteria:

We invite applications from candidates with a strong academic background in early modern history, preferably economic and social history of Europe. Successful applicants should normally have a good first degree (at least 2.1, or international equivalent) in a relevant field of humanities and/or social sciences, and have obtained, or currently working towards a Masters degree at Merit level, or international equivalent, in early modern history.

Knowledge of both Italian and English is a requirement for this position. If English is not a candidate’s native language, s/he will also need to satisfy the English language entry requirements of the University of Exeter (http://www.exeter.ac.uk/postgraduate/apply/english/). If Italian is not a candidate’s native language, s/he will need to have a certificate of knowledge of Italian at B2 level.

In order to apply

Applicants should complete the online web form: http://www.exeter.ac.uk/postgraduate/money/funding//application/ and;

1. upload a full CV
3. a sample of recent work (maximum 10,000 words, please upload this in the research proposal section of the application form)
3. a cover letter outlining academic interests
4. prior research experience and reasons for wishing to undertake the project
5. details of two referees

If relevant, proof of English/Italian language proficiency will be required prior to signing the studentship agreement.

Applicants should ensure two referees email their references in the form of a letter to the Postgraduate Administrator at [Email Address Removed] by 1 May 2017. The responsibility for ensuring that references are received by the deadline rests with the candidates. Referees must email their references to us from their institutional email accounts (references sent from personal/private email accounts will not be accepted unless in the form of a scanned document on institutional headed paper and signed by the referee).

All application documents must be submitted in English. Certified translated copies of academic qualifications must also be provided.

It is anticipated that shortlisted candidates will be notified within a week of the deadline and that interviews will take place at the University of Exeter in late May.

You can hear more details about the project from this link: http://www.exeter.ac.uk/research/events/ercweek/professormariafusaro/

If you have any queries or would like to discuss this opportunity before applying, please contact Professor Maria Fusaro, [Email Address Removed]